The liturgical psalter is one of the most important medieval Christian books and the most frequently and richly illuminated of medieval liturgical manuscripts. In its simplest form the psalter included 150 psalms, preceded by a calendar and followed by the canticles for the daily offices, the litany of saints and collects. This basic structure was very stable throughout the Middle Ages and is found in an overwhelming majority of psalters from different countries. In spite of the similarity of core content, psalters were very variable in their size, decoration, choice of supplementary texts and style of presentation, reflecting the interests and requirements of a wide range of lay and religious patrons.Latin Liturgical Psalters in the Bodleian Library contains descriptions of 111 psalters from Britain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain, ranging in date from the ninth to the sixteenth century. Each entry includes a description of contents, decoration, physical makeup and provenance, together with a bibliography. The entries are supplemented by comparative tables and indices to assist the study of illumination, manuscript presentation and the liturgical use of the psalms. Full colour images of pages from each of the manuscripts are also included, some of which are reproduced here for the first time. This catalogue brings together important information on a stunning selection of manuscripts held in the Bodleian Library, providing an invaluable resource for scholars.

The catalogue is a detailed study of Oxford manuscripts of the Wycliffite Bible, the first complete translation of the Bible in English.

The Psalms have resulted in controversies between Jews and Christians over the centuries and it is only from the mid twentieth century onwards that the two traditions have worked side by side in the academy at least. This is one of the very few volumes on the psalms to incorporate scholarship from both these traditions for nearly a century, and the result is a rich celebration of these extraordinary ancient songs. This innovative essay collection draws together internationally renowned Jewish and Christian scholars of the Psalms, with one tradition responding to the other, in areas as diverse as Qumran studies, Medieval Jewish interpretation, Reception History, Liturgical Psalters and Chagall's Church Windows and more recent Literary Studies of the Psalter as a Book. The range of topics chosen will be of interest not only to those specializing in the Psalms but also to others interested more generally in biblical studies. Several musical and artistic representations of selected psalms are also included and the book includes a colour plate section which illustrates several of the chapters.

Edition and translation of prognostic guides and calendars, intended as an effort to foretell the future.

A beautiful little manuscript in the Bodleian Library, which was purchased for £6 at auction in 1887, was discovered afterwards to belong to none other than Margaret, Queen of Scotland and was, according to her biographer, her favourite book. The story of the book is as romantic as the story of Margaret herself.Born in Hungary, St Margaret was briefly sister of the King of England then exiled to Scotland after the Norman Conquest where she married King Malcolm. Despite many political upheavals, she adapted to an unwelcome public role to become famous for her piety, dignity and compassion. She helped her husband to make Scotland a European power, and her children ruled over both Scotland and England. After her death she was invoked as a force for stability and reconciliation, even as late as the Restoration of Charles II.Although Margaret was later revered as a saint, her Latin biographer recounts only a single miracle, an occasion on which this very book fell in a stream but was later found undamaged. A Latin poem added to the beginning of the Bodleian gospel-book describes the same events. It was only after the Library purchased the book that the connection was made by the 22-year-old-scholar, Lucy Hill, making it clear that we have the very book St Margaret owned and diligently studied.Saint Margaret's Gospel Book will explain this beautiful manuscript, exploring its making and its meaning for Margaret, looking at how it became associated with her sanctity; and setting this against the background of historical events which made Margaret a significant figure both then and now.

Bible Missals are manuscripts that integrate liturgical prayers for the Mass with the scriptural texts of the Latin Vulgate. Long overlooked by scholars, Bible Missals offer important evidence for the development of the medieval liturgy and the liturgical use of scripture by medieval Christians. This monograph is the first comprehensive analysis of the codicology and contents of Bible Missals. Mostly produced in the first half of the 13th century by professional book makers in centers like Paris and Oxford, these hybrid manuscripts were customized for secular, monastic, and mendicant patrons. This monograph focuses on Dominican Bible Missals, the largest group within the repertoire, providing detailed codicological descriptions of each manuscript and analyzing their texts for the Order of Mass and selected liturgical formularies, including prayers for the feast of St. Dominic. For medieval Christians, the words and events of scripture were continually called to mind and reenacted in the sacramental rites of the Mass. Bible Missals provide important material evidence for this interplay between word and sacrament.

An examination of how The Book of Psalms shaped medieval thought and helped develop the medieval English literary canon. The Book of Psalms had a profound impact on English literature from the Anglo-Saxon to the late medieval period. This collection examines the various ways in which they shaped medieval English thought and contributed to the emergence of an English literary canon. It brings into dialogue experts on both Old and Middle English literature, thus breaking down the traditional disciplinary binaries of both pre- and post-Conquest English and late medieval and Early Modern, as well as emphasizing the complex and fascinating relationship between Latin and the vernacular languages of England. Its three main themes, translation, adaptation and voice, enable a rich variety of perspectives on the Psalms and medieval English literature to emerge. TAMARA ATKIN is Senior Lecturer in Late Medieval and Early Renaissance Literature at Queen Mary University of London; FRANCIS LENEGHAN is Associate Professor of OldEnglish at The University of Oxford and a Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford Contributors: Daniel Anlezark, Mark Faulkner, Vincent Gillespie, Michael P. Kuczynski, David Lawton, Francis Leneghan, Jane Roberts, Mike Rodman Jones, Elizabeth Solopova, Lynn Staley, Annie Sutherland, Jane Toswell, Katherine Zieman.